Smokeball

Smokeball is desktop-based law practice management software for Windows-based law firms. Smokeballis is tightly integrated with Microsoft Word and Outlook and its document assembly and automation is its strongest feature.

Smokeball Highlights

Robust document assembly and automation. Smokeball sets itself apart with robust document assembly and automation, including pre-installed templates. It’s easy to add more templates. Smokeball can set up additional templates for you, or you can do it yourself.

Automated timekeeping. Due to the tight Microsoft Word and Outlook integration, Smokeball can keep track of what you are doing as long as you are working in Smokeball, Word, or Outlook.

Offline access. Because Smokeball is desktop-based, you can keep using it even when you are offline.

Cloud backend. Instead of requiring your firm to set up and maintain a server, Smokeball uses the cloud to make your data available to everyone. This includes the Smokeball mobile apps for iOS and Android.

Pricing

Smokeball costs $139 per user per month, plus a required onboarding fee of $300 for installation and training. This puts Smokeball on the expensive end of law practice management software pricing, especially considering you will need additional software for invoicing and accounting.

For comparison, Clio’s highest-priced tier, Elite, is $99 per user per month. On the other end of the spectrum, MyCase is just $39 per user per month.

Things You Might Want to Know

Windows only. If you use a Mac, you will have to run Windows using virtualization software like Boot Camp, Parallels, or VMWare Fusion in order to use Smokeball.

Template setup. There are three ways to get up and running with document assembly: (1) use the pre-installed templates, (2) give your documents to Smokeball, which will turn them into templates for you, or (3) set up your templates in Smokeball yourself.

Outlook sync. The tight integration with Microsoft Outlook includes calendars and contacts, so you can access them from Smokeball or Outlook.

Task permissions. While it is convenient to be able to view the tasks of everyone at the firm, there is no way to restrict permissions if you don’t want everyone’s tasks to be shared with everyone else at the firm.

Invoicing and accounting sold separately. While you can track your time in Smokeball, it does not include invoicing or accounting. If you want to be able to send invoices, Smokeball offers integrations with Boost Billing and Clio.